É algo que os proprietários de empresas são constantemente vendidas: a rede é essencial para a coleta de leads. Mas a rede realmente vale a pena para todos? Lá? Torna-se um acéfalo quando você sabe quem você pode ajudar e exatamente onde eles estarão. E 9/10 vezes, você quase definitivamente não deve estar em rede como uma prioridade. É uma perda de tempo e incrivelmente ineficiente. E, curiosamente, geralmente os que são comercializados em você diretamente podem não ter seu avatar atendendo - porque eles estão segmentando
Let’s dig a little deeper into business networking and let me walk you through how to decide whether it actually makes sense for you and your business.
If you would like to discuss any of the points covered here, please feel free to request a free call below.
Are Your Customers or Clients There?
Before you begin considering ANY marketing channel at all, the first step is to be very clear who your Avatar
If (and only if) you are really clear about that and you also know for sure that your avatar is likely to congregate at the networking event you are considering, then yes – go for it. It becomes a no-brainer when you know who you are able to help and exactly where they are going to be.
However, if you are attending networking just because you FEEL like networking makes sense – then you need to more carefully assess whether this is the BEST thing for your business. And 9/10 times, you should almost definitely not be networking as a priority.
I’ve known many business owners who have been wasting an incredible amount of time – breakfast meetings, after work drinks, dinners – going to ‘network’ with people who not only fail to fit their avatar but aren’t even logical alliances! It’s a waste of time and incredibly inefficient.
Not All Business Networking Events Were Made Equal
There is a kaleidoscope of business networking events out there, and each have different demographics in attendance. And, oddly enough, often the ones that are marketed at you directly may not actually have your avatar attending – because they’re targeting você Não é o seu avatar (a menos que, é claro, os dois coincidam!) || 130
Find networking events specifically crafted for your avatar and go there. Better yet, get into those events as an authority in your field (do a presentation, or sponsor the event) so you get more visibility and are easier to approach.
Don’t just attack every networking event you come across. Be discerning.
Focus On Your ROI
Promoters of networking events will hardly ever talk about your return on investment on coming to their event. That’s because, generally, there is no immediately clear way to measure the return.
That doesn’t mean you chalk it up to a ‘fuzzy’ channel with ‘potential’. We don’t work that way here. We make sure there are some clear numbers we are looking at to make decisions about whether it’s worth your time and money – you just need to be smart about it.
Let’s say you are attending a networking event that requires you to meet every week in the morning for about 2-3 hours, and then you also end up spending another 2-3 hours during the week doing extra networking with this group. That’s approximately 5 hours of your work week being devoted to networking.
Compare this to 5 hours a week spent on your Google Adwords account, or on refining your email marketing strategy, or devising a clever direct mail strategy. How do you compare the return? Is the result from networking really covering this time-cost in the same way?
If you think it MIGHT, but you have no actual data yet, then you do need to test and measure – and collect that data!
Build a dashboard that’s specific for your networking activity. Count the number of contacts you collected at each event. Track what the result has been from those contacts (“No. of clients referred” maybe? “Become a customer” maybe?). Record time invested on the sheet.
Then you can begin to track exactly how useful each event has been in real terms. And once you are tracking, you can start to spot how to refine your method so that you target only the most useful events and limit your time investment to get the most out of your networking.
A rede de negócios é um complemento que não é Bedrock
na minha opinião, é raro encontrar qualquer negócio em que a rede ofereça a você maior que 20 ou 30% da sua empresa, se isso. Portanto, a menos que sua empresa seja uma exceção extrema, geralmente é uma boa estratégia adicional para uma máquina de marketing já agitada - não uma estratégia que facilite o crescimento imediato dos negócios. No entanto, se você já é uma grande empresa que procura abrir mais canais e diversificar seu marketing, a rede pode ser uma opção. Apenas mantenha um controle apertado sobre os recursos que você está dedicando a ele e, novamente, seja discernante. Resultado "Fuzzy" que é difícil de medir. No entanto, pode não ser o único a ignorar, especialmente se você estiver chegando a um ponto em que está se tornando um líder em seu campo. A rede com os outros motores e agitadores da sua indústria pode ser uma boa maneira de criar credibilidade e atrair liderança de pensamento - principalmente se você tiver a oportunidade de apresentar ou fazer algum treinamento no evento de rede. Dessa forma, você pode obter a autoridade e a geração de leads - e você tem mais controle sobre a qualidade dos leads, porque o comercializa diretamente para o seu próprio avatar. Você precisa reservar um local, decidir sobre refrescos, comercializar o evento, coordenar com os participantes, limpar depois etc - e isso está tudo no topo do marketing, venda e acompanhamento que está planejando fazer! Mas se você é uma equipe pequena e ágil, isso pode (quase certamente) se distrair dos canais que estão dando a você a maior parte do seu negócio - o que não é uma jogada inteligente se você estiver olhando para um crescimento mais imediato do lucro. Portanto, vale a pena ser um pouco mais rigoroso ao determinar se a rede faz sentido ou não para o seu negócio.
If you are looking to grow big and grow fast, networking is not usually an effective main strategy for that. However, if you are an already large business seeking to open more channels and diversify your marketing, then networking may be an option. Just keep a tight rein on the resources you are dedicating to it and, again, be discerning.
Using Networking For Authority Building
I did touch on this earlier in the article: business networking can be useful in your wider marketing strategy not as a direct lead generation but as authority building, by being present and visible where your avatar is congregating.
This, however, is a very ‘fuzzy’ result that is hard to measure. However, it may not be one to overlook, especially if you are reaching a point where you are becoming a leader in your field. Networking with the other movers and shakers in your industry can potentially be a good way to build credibility and garner thought leadership – most especially if you have the opportunity to present or do some training at the networking event.
Be The Host Instead of the Attendee
To the purpose of being an industry leader – if you think your avatar truly loves to network, why not craft your own networking event for them? That way you can get both authority building AND lead generation – and you have more control over the quality of the leads because you get to market it directly to your own avatar.
Of course, be aware that hosting a networking event yourself comes with a lot of extra work. You need to book a venue, decide on refreshments, market the event, coordinate with attendees, clean up afterwards etc – and that’s all on top of the marketing, selling, and follow up you’re planning to do!
If you have a strong team to assist with this, then it may not be as much of an issue. But if you’re a small, agile team, that may (almost certainly will) distract from the channels that are giving you the bulk of your business – which isn’t a smart move if you are looking at more immediate profit growth.
Of course, every business is different, and while networking may be an essential element for some, it is not for most. So it is worth being a bit more rigorous with determining whether networking makes sense or not for your business.
Você teve sucesso através da rede? Compartilhe sua história nos comentários abaixo!
Se você quiser saber mais sobre isso, sinta -se à vontade para entrar em contato abaixo.
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